Reflector gun sights

Oh dear, I must be getting old…..I can remember cased reflector gun sites for sale at £15.00 each!!!

Thanks Alan, that’s interesting.

regards

Julian.

The simple answer is that a gunsight is a gunsight, i.e. the thing in its entirety (lamp unit, body and reflector plate, etc) whereas a Projector is the body and lamp unit only, to which a number of different Reflectors may be fitted. This gives rise to various Marks, e.g. Reflector Type I, Mk. I, with Projector, Type I, Mk. I.

It was an attempt to “tidy up” and re-organise the Reflector Sight range in late 1943 but I’m not sure it actually simplified things much at all!

Gasp! That’s bad news.

Laurent

Gasp! That’s bad news.

Laurent

chances of finding a bulb holder is super slim !! i paid £200 for a useless sight just to get the bulb holder a while back !!

chances of finding a bulb holder is super slim !! i paid £200 for a useless sight just to get the bulb holder a while back !!

Dear Lance,

If among your spares, you have a few light sources (bulb holder or whatever its called) i’m interested.

Thanks,

Laurent

Dear Lance,

If among your spares, you have a few light sources (bulb holder or whatever its called) i’m interested.

Thanks,

Laurent

Good day Paddy,

what you actually got from Lance is a Type I Mk. II Reflector head that was fitted to the the Type I Mk. I Projector. This combination of Reflector/Projector was definitely not aircraft specific but suitable for all rocket firing aircrafts.

This combination superceeded the Mark IIL that you have pictured.

BTW, if you have a spare Mark IIL, i’m really interested.

Regards,

Laurent

Good day Paddy,

what you actually got from Lance is a Type I Mk. II Reflector head that was fitted to the the Type I Mk. I Projector. This combination of Reflector/Projector was definitely not aircraft specific but suitable for all rocket firing aircrafts.

This combination superceeded the Mark IIL that you have pictured.

BTW, if you have a spare Mark IIL, i’m really interested.

Regards,

Laurent

i have lots of these sights but non have aircraft serial No. on…
What slightly puzzles me is the Typhoon did not carry rockets until the end of 1943. It wasnt even in service properly till the middle of 1942 so thats fine for the MkIII sights but the 1941 MkII sighs as above must have been old stock converted.

i have lots of these sights but non have aircraft serial No. on…
What slightly puzzles me is the Typhoon did not carry rockets until the end of 1943. It wasnt even in service properly till the middle of 1942 so thats fine for the MkIII sights but the 1941 MkII sighs as above must have been old stock converted.

I have one of these rocket firing heads on my gunsight – bought many years ago when such things were affordable! or was it that I didn’t have a mortgage then 😮

As mentioned I was led to believe they were off Typhoons, but on one of my early digs on a Firefly that crashed in 1945, I found parts of this exact type of gunsight head – we also found the gunsight body which was marked with another Firefly’s serial number! Sadly it was later nicked during a display 😡

Has anyone else found gunsights marked with aircraft serial number’s – They were stamped into the metal, not painted.

I have one of these rocket firing heads on my gunsight – bought many years ago when such things were affordable! or was it that I didn’t have a mortgage then 😮

As mentioned I was led to believe they were off Typhoons, but on one of my early digs on a Firefly that crashed in 1945, I found parts of this exact type of gunsight head – we also found the gunsight body which was marked with another Firefly’s serial number! Sadly it was later nicked during a display 😡

Has anyone else found gunsights marked with aircraft serial number’s – They were stamped into the metal, not painted.

Thanks Lance
I wonder if these were the original ones ? I read that W/C Beaumont originally converted a few MkII’s in the field, he later blanked out the adjustable reticule as well and just had a centre orange dot. Later still he did away with the reflector glass and projected the dot straight on to the windscreen before getting in to trouble with the top brass and having to revert back to the MkII

Thanks Lance
I wonder if these were the original ones ? I read that W/C Beaumont originally converted a few MkII’s in the field, he later blanked out the adjustable reticule as well and just had a centre orange dot. Later still he did away with the reflector glass and projected the dot straight on to the windscreen before getting in to trouble with the top brass and having to revert back to the MkII

mk2l gunsight

yep ive had these before aswell, but these are also a bit of a rarity only a few were ever made as a tester for the actual mk3 gunsight which went into full production like the one i sold you. these were developed by W/C Beaumont for the rocket version Typhoon, and was then superseeded by the actual mk3. i think these were designated the mk2L. so fitted to early typhoons hence the early 41 date.hope this helps.
L.Corke

mk2l gunsight

yep ive had these before aswell, but these are also a bit of a rarity only a few were ever made as a tester for the actual mk3 gunsight which went into full production like the one i sold you. these were developed by W/C Beaumont for the rocket version Typhoon, and was then superseeded by the actual mk3. i think these were designated the mk2L. so fitted to early typhoons hence the early 41 date.hope this helps.
L.Corke

Lance at Corke aero has kindly supplied me with a gunsight body of the MkIII variety here for Rocket firing aircraft with a tiltable reflector glass to allow for drop on the rocket in flight

however if differs wildly from the version i already have

I cant find this version in any books so does anyone recognise this model ??